Even with all the free art time the girls engage in, they still ask to do projects. I have tons of fun art projects bookmarked, so we’ve decided to set aside Friday mornings for art project time.

Last week, the girls chose to do the Sunset Cityscape project from Art Projects for Kids.

Supplies:

• watercolor paper
• watercolors
• construction paper: black and yellow
• glue (we used glue sticks)

We started with long pieces of watercolor paper that I cut from a large sheet. The girls painted stripes of watercolor across the entire page.

While the backgrounds were drying, they cut building shapes from black paper. I encouraged them to vary the size and roofline of their buildings. They also cut these freehand – no stressing about drawing the “perfect” building!

For the windows, I cut yellow paper into 1/2″ and 1″ strips, so they could just snip, snip, snip and create a pile of window shapes.

The girls spent a little time arranging their buildings before settling on a design and gluing them down.

Beautiful results!

The girls loved this project! If your kiddo likes to paint, cut and glue, I highly recommend this one. It’s great for a multi-age group of kids, too – simple buildings look just as beautiful as elaborate ones.

Thanks to Art Projects for Kids for the inspiration!

Do your kids like to do “projects” or do they prefer free exploration with art materials?

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Way to go, Natalie!

Hope you are having a great weekend!

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I was flipping through one of the activity books I added to our collection over the summer, The Usborne Big Book of Science Things to Make and Do, and found instructions for making catapult planes. The girls love making and flying paper airplanes, so I knew they would love this project.

As you can see, you make a standard paper airplane and add a rubber band for sling-shot-style launching. Natalie had no trouble getting her launching technique down and her planes zipped across the room at top speed.  Delaney had a little more trouble at the beginning, but she kept practicing and was soon launching her plane across the room, too.

The girls thought this was a blast and had another session of flying when Dad came home. I’ve heard talk of trying this same rubber band technique with different types of airplanes, as well as elaborate plans to measure their flight distances and make a chart. Sounds like we’ll be revisiting these catapult planes soon!

Happy playing!

Rubber Band-Powered Paper Airplanes is a post from Let's Explore. Thanks for subscribing!

When the girls ask to paint, I try to always say yes. I don’t always have the easel set-up, but they are usually just as happy to paint at the kitchen table.

Sometimes they want watercolors, but often they want “real paint,” as Delaney calls it. We use Colorations brand washable tempera paints or BioColor Paint from Discount School Supply. Both these paints are affordable, easy to clean-up, and high-quality.

To make painting even more accessible, I fill small twist-top squeeze bottles with paint.  We have a bunch of small plastic palettes that I picked up very inexpensively (maybe a dollar each?) at the craft store. {If you’re looking for an online source for similar little palettes, try Joann’s or Dick Blick.}

When the girls want to paint, they can easily squeeze a little of each desired paint color into their palettes and go to town. Right now, the favorite activity is adding a little bit of white to each color and mixing well to make new colors.

We also have a couple jars full of paint brushes – we’re pretty much in the habit of grabbing a new brush when we want to change colors and tossing the dirty brush into a cup of water for rinsing later.

We are wasting much less paint using this method – those little palettes don’t hold much. And, the more we get the paints out, the more beautiful masterpieces I get to hang on the fridge.  Win-win!

Do you keep a painting easel set-up for anytime painting? How often do your kids get to play with paint?

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We are back to school this week! I’ll be posting more regularly again over at my homeschooling blog, Early Bird Homeschool, if you would like to follow-along with our learning adventures this year.

Enjoy the last two days of August!

Quote of the Week

Life is uncharted territory. It reveals its story one moment at a time. {Leo Buscaglia}

Fun Activities & Projects

Practical Life Skills: Letting Your Young Children Help With Household Tasks :: Simple Kids

Fabric Book Cover Tutorial :: Sew, Mama, Sew!

Crafting Letters ~ Snail Mail :: The Mother Huddle

Room Service Menu (for home) :: by little hands

do it now :: Camp Creek Blog

Back to School Mini Notebook Tutorial :: One Charming Party

Art Tips & Techniques :: Crayola

What We’re Reading

Mmm…chocolate… We’ve been enjoying a stack of chocolate-inspired books from our bookshelf and the library, which makes for some delicious bedtime reads. I’m thinking The Chocolate Touch would be a great read-aloud chapter book to start next.

Creative Products

Have you seen these puzzles? I saw them at our local toy store and they look SO cool. Each puzzle has three different puzzle piece sizes, so everyone in the family, from littles to grown-ups, can work on the puzzle together. Isn’t that neat? They are totally on my wish list!

Playful Picks (August 30, 2010) is a post from Let's Explore. Thanks for subscribing!

An extra canvas + masking tape + acrylic craft paints = fun new rainbow art for Delaney’s room!

Delaney said the best part of this project is peeling off the tape after the paint is dry. My favorite part is seeing her brushstrokes in each little space.

This particular canvas has exposed staples on the edges, so we’ll either paint the sides or attach a fun ribbon with hot glue.

Hope you find some time to play and create this weekend!

Simple Abstract Painted Canvas is a post from Let's Explore. Thanks for subscribing!

Wanna take a trip down memory lane with me? During the long (and apparently never-ending) unpacking process at our new house, I came across a bin of board books that I had saved. Even though my girls have mostly outgrown these little treasures, I couldn’t bear to part with our favorite board books. These books definitely show the signs of frequent reading and re-reading, including a few chewed corners. Such good memories!

Here are some of our most-loved board books from those baby and toddler days:

Love and Kisses by Sarah Wilson

My husband and I can still recite this one by heart – it is the sweetest rhyming verse with the most adorable illustrations by Melissa Sweet (one of my faves!).

Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs! and Pajama Time! by Sandra Boynton

We had a whole stack of Sandra Boynton’s fun and silly books – these two were our faves. I remember Delaney spending lots of time pointing to the dinosaurs and practicing her color words.  And I still sometimes sing “Pajammy to the left, pajammy to the right…” while the girls are getting ready for bed.

Where Is Baby’s Belly Button? by Karen Katz

We could never go wrong with a lift-the-flap book, and this one always brought giggles! We also loved reading Karen Katz’s Where is Baby’s Mommy? and Daddy and Me.

Time for Bed by Mem Fox

A perfectly precious bedtime book – lots of rocking chair time spent with this one. We started reading this one to the girls as tiny babies and it was always a favorite!

We had so many favorites, I could go on and on… Here are just a few more that I can’t fail to mention:

• Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
• We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
• Jamberry by Bruce Degen
• Tumble Bumble by Felicia Bond
• The Napping House by Audrey Wood

I guess that’s enough for now – I may have to write a Part 2!

Tell me — What are/were your little one’s favorite board books? Also, I haven’t browsed the board book section at the bookstore for a while – what are your favorite recent books for babies and toddlers?

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Setting goals is not just for grown-ups. Even our littles can benefit from the confidence-boost that comes from setting a goal, working towards it, and achieving it.

Goal-setting with young children should be simple and straightforward:

• Involve your child as much as possible in choosing an appropriate goal.
• Listen for times when your little one says, “I wish I could…” and think about ways to turn that wish into a specific goal.
• First-time goals should be achievable in a day or two.
• Decide on a great way to celebrate your child’s success.

No matter what the goal, kids (and grown-ups, too) will benefit from a visual way to track progress.  With some basic supplies, you and your child can create some fun and effective goal-setting charts. Here are some of the charts we have enjoyed using over the years. Let’s set some goals!

Continue reading this post over at Simple Kids…

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I always enjoy hearing tips and tricks from other parents and thinking about which ones would be a good fit for me and my girls. So, I thought I’d share some of my parenting tips with you from time to time.

My tips may be things you’ve read before, heard before, tried before – but I have found that the best ideas often deserve repeating. Plus, I know I can always use reminders to stay focused on being the kind of parent I strive to be.

Here is something that has served me well since my girls were little, and continues to be one of my most effective parenting tools: giving my full attention.

What does my full attention look like?

• maintaining eye contact
• engaging in conversation
• getting down on my child’s level
• following my child’s lead
• giving affection
• not multitasking

Each day, my goal is for each of my girls to have my full attention at least twice. We might play a game, read together, do an art project, take a walk, do some imaginative play, or cook. During this time, I don’t check e-mail, do chores, write to-do lists, or any other task that might need attending to.

I know that when I give my full attention at various moments throughout the day, my girls play better independently, they whine and argue less, and the general mood of our house is more positive.

How can I tell I haven’t given enough attention? The whining, bickering, and {gasp!} “I’m bored!”s start creeping into our day. This tends to happen on days where I am wrapped-up in my own tasks – and, there are inevitably days that have to be this way. However, I have found that even 15 minutes of focused attention and interaction goes a long way.

Also, as my girls get older, I often need to remind myself that while they can play and create independently, they still enjoy having me play with them. And, I enjoy it too! A little playdough and chocolate milk break is good for this mom’s soul…

Is this a parenting technique you use? What do your kids like to do when they have your full attention? I’m always thrilled to engage in continued conversation through the ideas, comments, and questions you write. Thanks for sharing!

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I’ve had a few questions about the large painted characters we made for Delaney’s Alice in Wonderland party {see Part 1 and Part 2 for more pictures}.

My husband did the drawing. I printed out a picture of the character and he drew a grid across it. Then, he drew another larger grid on a big piece of cardboard (using a yard stick). Square by square, he sketched the character onto the cardboard (in pencil).

When he was happy with how it looked, he traced over his lines with a Sharpie.

We painted them with acrylic craft paints and when dry, retraced the Sharpie lines for a nice sharp finish. We only used one coat of paint, and it seemed to cover just fine.

As far as time, I would say the drawing took about an hour per character. My hubby graciously did one a night over the course of a week or two. We worked together on the painting and it took us about 3 hours all together.

Large cardboard characters are definitely a low-cost way to add big fun to a party!

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